Frozen Colorado: Big Bend Campground

Frozen Colorado
Painting No.  6-A-13
8" x 8" oil on canvas

The weather finally broke today and I was able to sneak out of the gallery for a couple of hours and paint this scene.
Along the Colorado River, just northeast of Moab is Big Bend Campground and on the east side of the highway are these wonderful rock formations that reflect the warm glow of the sun, even if the temperature is close to freezing. I enjoy this stretch of river, the afternoon light is special and I'm thankful to be the only painter on the river.

Winter Day in Moab

Today, I hate to say it, was a gloomy day.
I had a bagel and coffee at the Red Rock Bakery, my local morning spot. The owner Howard assures me that it will eventually warm up and that I'll have plenty of good days to paint outside. I consider this as a sip my morning inspiration and read the latest edition of Fast Company. The article is on the 10 most important business conversations ever. It inspires me to believe that the planning sessions I have with my art partner are going to yield some great results for the coming tourist season.
After breakfast I go to the studio and study art. That brown leather chair in the photo is where I sit for 30 minutes each day and study one of many art instruction books that I own. It's essential to keep learning something new about art each day. Afterwards I sketch out new compositional ideas for an hour or so. These are usually imaginative ideas that encompass the trademark designs of Edger Payne. I have a notebook of twenty or so good ideas for future paintings. I was really planning on painting outside today, even with cold temperatures I had that itch to go down to the river and do a couple quick plein air paintings. But alas, the clouds rolled in and my hopes were replaced by a dull grey sky and an attitude to match.
After work I hiked again near Sand Flats Recreational Area. I started out later today than yesterday and got back to the car in the dark just as the snow started....good timing. These last couple nights I've been reading at the Grand County Library which is a really nice place to snuggle in for a couple hours with a good book. What am I reading you ask? The Journey Home by Edward Abbey. Tonight's chapter Fire Lookout: Numa Ridge.


Winter Hike on a Monday Evening

This evening I went on my first hike since arriving in Moab. I had previously hiked along this trail during Thanksgiving weekend with a local artist, but today I'm on my own, sort of.
The locals hike this no-name trail along Sand Flats Road, just below the fee booth as you enter the Sand Flats Recreation Area, home to the famous "Slickrock Trail".
It snowed on and off for a couple of hours today, but at 5 PM with the overcast skies holding the last of the sun's warmth close to the rocks, the conditions for a hike were superb. I park on the shoulder next to a young couple and their dog, we head down the snow covered trail in close company, but I speed up and give them some privacy. Grand County is a sparsely populated place; only 1 person for every 2.5 square miles. The locals generally like their privacy, the California attitude of "your here and I have a right to be right next to you" doesn't fly here...thankfully.
This is a great little walk, 3 miles round trip on a mostly level course with great views towards Spanish Valley. The trail itself wanders along the base of a large red rock wall. The wall has this smooth grey-black surface in some places called "desert varnish" which is actually clay that has been baked in the sun. It's wonderful to look at and the ancient ones preferred it's black surface for chiseling their petroglyphs into at a depth of 1/4 inch. Along this route there are 2 petroglyphs that I've seen; long, curvy, snake looking shapes that possibly represent the ridge line of the La Sal mountains or maybe the nearby stream bed, no one knows for sure.....mystery is a good thing.
It's quiet and peaceful here, yet only a mile or so from town. This is a great trail to let your mind wonder and your body get some exercise. Near the petroglyphs there's a large pile of broken stones at the base of the cliff. On further examination the broken stones are in the shape of soup cans. These rocks might have formed an arch on top of the cliff many years ago. At the turn-around point your treated to a view of the confluence of Mill Creek and North Mill Creek approximately 200 feet below you as it winds through the ancient slot canyons and eventually through the middle of Moab on it's way to the Colorado River. There is a nice big flat rock to sit on at this location; perfect for a friend and a bottle of wine on a summer evening.

Developing Large Paintings from Plein Air Sketches #2

Picking up from the last blog; this image shows the early block-in of color on a 16" x 20" canvas. Notice first that I chose a warm color for the initial wash. I don't like painting on a white canvas. It seems that when I have painted on white, I'm continuously fighting the surface to make sure that the white doesn't show through. When you lay down an initial wash, it eliminates that problem and creates a background color that can easily show through in several spots to tie the rest of the colors together; creating a color harmony. This image shows the block-in of colors in the shadow areas of the painting which includes the back rock wall with rocky tiers and snow piled on each tier. Also the willow bushes get their block-in of color. You can see that the base color for the willows is purple; not black, brown, green or yellow ochre. As I mentioned in the last blog, the color mixing for all studio paintings is subject to the color as seen in person and captured in plein air paintings...DO NOT TRUST PHOTOGRAPHS. One more thing; I took the willow block-in color and used it in the shadows of the rocks and bushes on the right side of the painting. This helps to create a color unity throughout the entire work.

This image is the finished painting with possibly a few minor tweaks to the stones in the shadows along the frozen river bank, (the 4 stones are too evenly spaced), I'll probably add some variation in the studio on Tuesday.  Notice the open water in the river; it's darker than the rear wall. Also notice the bush reflections are darker. The base color for the snow is a warmed-up reddish white (never use pure white....never). The sun lit bush closest to the river and the ice next to it are the brightest parts of the painting. This is intentional, it becomes the focal point. I designed this painting so that your eye leads in by following the open water, (left to right whenever possible). Then the eye travels up the background snow to the left, then right to the upper right corner, then follows the sunny rock wall down to the bushes in a clockwise fashion, then loops again.

Do you have comments, suggestions, questions? Let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. 

Developing Large Paintings from Plein Air Sketches

Developing large oil paintings is part science, part art and a certain amount of planning and intuition. In the end even the best painters can mess it up and have to restart, so don't beat yourself over the head if it takes you several tries..or 50 tries to get it right.

Let me say that I study art manuals all the time. I'm continuously trying to improve my techniques and you should too.

I'm working on producing my first large work since arriving in Moab. It's based on the plein air painting I did on Monday called, "Winter Breath". Above is a full scale 16" x 20" pencil drawing that I've reworked about 6 times in the last 2 days. Notice the lines drawn at the 1/3 and 2/3 distances both horizontally and vertically. Also note the lines from corner to corner. These 6 lines are crucial for laying out the objects within the painting, including the lead in line.

You should know that I took photos the day of the plein air, then I went back out yesterday and shot a dozen more detail shots of rocks, bushes and canyon walls. the details will become important in the negative space for adding detail to shadow areas.


Below is the plein air sketch that I will use for all color references....DO EVERYONE A FAVOR AND RELY ONLY ON YOUR PLEIN AIR PAINTINGS FOR COLOR REFERENCES. PHOTOS ARE ONLY GOOD FOR SHAPES!!! In the next blog I will cover the actual canvas techniques that I used.

Frozen River

Frozen River
Painting No. 4-A-13
8" x 8" oil on canvas board

The winter light here in Moab is just as stunning as the rest of the year, you just don't stop to notice it as often. As I was outside working on this small painting I noticed Ravens flying along the cliff faces, catching the warm up draft of air as it rises off the brick colored walls. I watched Robins search for seeds among the bushes that line the Colorado River banks, and I listened to the sound of ice sheets as they rubbed against each other in the still frozen and crowded water surface. How long until Spring comes? No one can say for sure, but I'm thankful for peaceful days of painting in the sunshine.

Winter Breath, Colordao River

Winter Breath
Painting No. 3-A-13
8" x 10"
oil on canvas board

Today was my day off so I went up the Colorado River along Hwy 128 known locally as "River Road" to a campground at a large bend in the river called "Goose Island". The temperature was 17 degrees but the scenery was beautiful and the traffic very lite. The Colorado River doesn't freeze over very often, the locals actually drive out here to see it....it's that rare, but with sustained temperatures below freezing for about 6 weeks the river can't help but ice over. As I'm painting I can here the water gurgling under the ice as it works the small ice breaks into larger chunks. It wont be long before it's flowing on the surface again.


Moab Midwinter Mayhem 2

Where do I begin?
This was the funnest thing I've done since arriving in Moab, and I've done a few cool things but this was WAAAYY over the top.

It all started with seeing the posters around town for the roller derby that's coming in January 19th, which sounds interesting.... then this last week the anticipation really started to ramp-up. It's been advertised on the radio like every 15 minutes for the last few days, followed by signs popping up on street corners. Big wooden signs with large arrows and bright red letters "ROLLER DERBY."

I show up at 6:00 p.m. at the Old Spanish Trail Arena (indoor rodeo arena) just south of town. Parking isn't too bad but there's probably 100 cars in the snow covered lot. I almost slip and fall on the ice trying to get to the front door. Admission is $10, which is reasonable for this kind of entertainment and the place is pretty packed-out. I do a rough calculation and figure there's at least 700 people cramming the bleachers for the main event; Utah vs Colorado. The teams are comprised of 5 member squads of young women in their teens to late twenties; all decked out in head gear, elbow and knee pads, funky make-up and an assortment of tights and bikini bottom shorts.
I'm standing on the handrail above the bleachers, as-far-as I'm concerned it's the best place to watch the show. I get a beer (Moab Brewery IPA....sweet nectar served by a guy in roller derby drag) and join some locals leaning on the rail recalling the old days when roller derby was experienced on the black and white TV late on Saturday night. Those were pro skaters, big burly women who were good at inflicting pain on their opponents. These girls tonight are here to compete and have fun, and everyone knows it.
I'm looking around at the crowd, mostly locals. I spot a young man in a tuxedo shirt, bow tie and a plaid kilt coming up the stairs and entering the announcers booth. I also notice a few twenty something white guys with dreadlocks, a cheer leading squad that could be contestants on "Let's Make A Deal" and I suddenly feel at home. Moab happens to be one of those places where you can get away with a kilt, dreadlocks and a decorated Chinese paddy hat, and no one will think ill of you. It's just part of trying to be yourself in a place that values self expression and living in the moment.
The National Anthem is played by the local marching band, not the local high school band...another band. A tuba, saxophone and three percussionists. It's more of a New Orleans rendition that, believe it or not, is actually danceable.....the "Let's Make a Deal" cheerleaders are showing us how it's done....smiles and wild cheering follows.
The skating is entertaining. Utah, being the locals favorite gets the most clamping and war-whoops from the crowd. Colorado however has a powerful cheering section in the stands. No fights breakout... that form of redneck behavior will not be tolerated in this town.

At halftime the band comes back out to play some dance music.....let's see the video....

In the end Utah smokes Colorado 231-122. I sincerely hope that this returns again next year....it really was a great evening in Moab.








 

Making the Local Paper

Moab Sun News

January 16, 2013

 

So I've been in town 8 days and already I have a mention in the local paper, "Artist James McKew will be teaching two six week classes February through March: pencil drawing on Tuesdays and oil painting on Thursdays."

I'm grateful; the people of Moab have been really open and generous to me. Today a local artist came by the gallery to show me his work, then he took me to lunch at Pantele's Desert Deli, I know I've mentioned it, but the daily soup is always excellent. Today it was Clam Chowder...ahhhh....on a cold day it's to die for! Later in the afternoon a local that I met at a holiday party stopped in to check me out. Nice guy from Castle Valley that appreciates art, I hope to see more folks from that area stop by.

 

 

Edge of the Cedars State Park

Edge of the Cedars State Park
Blanding, Utah

Today I had the occasion to travel south for lunch with a friend in Blanding, Utah. Afterwards I stopped by the Edge of the Cedars State Park which houses the largest collection of pottery from the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) peoples that inhabited the Four Corners Region from AD 825 to 1125. This collection is outstanding; I get so excited to see the wonderful pottery that they made and the great artistic talent that went into even the simplest of common household objects. This is more than a museum, it is also the actual site of a village that is still in remarkable shape considering the age. The park has made the ruins accessible so that visitors can go down into the 1000-year-old kiva, a round somewhat underground living structure on the west side of the village. You really get a sense of life there in the village.

Bottom of the ladder into the kiva.....well worth the drive to experience this State Park!!!

 

 

Moab Visitor Center in Snow

Moab Visitor Center

Painting No. 1-A-13

I was in the gallery most of the day and at some point I decided that I needed to paint plein air (out in the open) but the temperature never got above 18 degrees today. So I set up my paint kit in the gallery and worked out the window towards the Moab Visitor Center. The mountains pictured are south of town and are known as "Behind the Rocks".

I thought the cool blues combined with red-ish shadows and dead leaves worked well. Your thoughts?

My Morning Coffee

Today I woke up early 7 AM, and went to the Moab Recreation Center for a little exercise. As I'm driving I notice the temperature gauge says it -5 degrees outside; coldest night of the year so far, and you can feel it. I see a kid in running tights, a hoody and a scarf wrapped around his face, jogging down the middle of the street. My thought is that hypothermia has already set in and he doesn't know it yet. He moves to the side and lets me pass.

I make it to the gym...it's really nice, state of the art equipment. I plug my ipod into the treadmill, pick the band "Everclear" and I'm off for a 40 minute run. Beautiful floor to ceiling windows, I can see the sunrise creep across the red rock canyon and watch the school kids trotting from the buses to the school building all at the same time.

Later at the Red Rock Bakery I'm minding my own business when a gentleman of about 55 comes in wearing shorts and a parka. I've heard rumors of some locals who refuse to wear pants in the winter, this is not a dare between buddies to see who's tougher....it's just a local thang. He tells us that it's 3 minutes by bicycle from his house to the bakery; I'm thinking the wind chill alone must be -25 degrees!! His legs are looking pretty pink, but he's happy and nonchalant about it. I saw him later that day peddling past the gallery, I'm assuming he was heading home, still in shorts.

Did I mention that the gallery neighbors stopped by to ask if I had any water available because their pipes were frozen? I hadn't noticed but mine was frozen solid as well. Apparently some waterlines in town aren't deep enough to remain open during the deep freeze. The landlady called the city and we are now on the list to have the water meter thawed by city forces, but it could be days before they get to us. I went to city hall and used their restroom.

Ok, last thing.....I'm really digging the local radio station. It's completely solar powered and the DJs are volunteers. The music selection could only be described as eclectic which is great, totally digging it. Today's hot song was, "Mama Found My Bong" by Rick Mahan......only in Moab.

First Day at the Overlook Gallery

First Day at the Gallery

Today I'm officially moved into the Overlook Gallery in Moab, Utah.
How does one deal with this kind of change? If it was just a matter of changing jobs, or changing housing locations, that's one thing. but changing life all together is hard on the temperament of an individual. Remember that movie, "Never Cry Wolf" about the researcher tracking wolves in northern Canada? Today I felt like him, dropped off in the middle of nowhere (no offense to you Moabites), it's really cold (+1 degree this morning) and I'm looking at my supplies scattered around the gallery floor wondering what to do?......yes indeed, what to do?
I start with the most important things first; get the radio cracked up and make some good strong coffee. Ok, that's going. Now develop a schedule.

1. Breakfast and art studies
2. Drawing and or painting
3. Marketing strategies
4. Lunch
5. More drawing and or painting
6. Close shop and find something to entertain myself with.

Breakfast is hard boiled eggs and cheese, with coffee and a new book on composition for 2 dimensional art. I'm sitting in my favorite chair, in the sun, watching as the shadows play against the red rock cliffs, sipping coffee and learning something new...pretty good start. Afterwards I work at framing 3 plein air pieces for a local restaurant owner who has volunteered to hang my work.......new opportunities are arriving, yeeaah!!!
At eleven o'clock I'm visited my another shop owner who also happens to be an artist. He chats me up then invites me to lunch at the deli across the street. This place makes a different soup each day and it's really good.
Later in the afternoon I inventory my frames and start thinking about marketing ideas for the future. I've been thinking for a few months about what I expect out of myself and what I want to gain financially from being here. Somewhere in the next 6 months these 2 ideas must cross paths and work together to achieve my goals.....it's all up to me at this point....stay tuned.
 

Art is Elementary, Moab Utah

Let me tell you about something wonderful.

Today I had the opportunity to attend the opening of an art show that exhibited the works of students from Helen M. Knight Elementary School in Moab, Utah.
Make no mistake, these young students demonstrated a well rounded and logical approach to art that made me stop and examine each work in-depth. The stunning use of color and imagination was so refreshing that it made me jealous and exhilarated at the same time. To see young minds expressing themselves in pastel, oil, pencil and wire form was a true treat to the senses, both for me and the parents of the students.
During the opening the students taught art classes in the upstairs hall at the Dead Horse Point State Park Visitors Center. I had my first lesson in pastels from a young lady who had a passion and exuberance for the medium that was infectious. My appreciation for the local pastel scene grows with each new artist I meet, and Moab has a number of quality pastel painters. Special thanks to the two teachers I know, Bruce Hucko, HMK Art Coach, for his ability to impart a serious and deliberate approach to art into these young minds, and Fourth Grade teacher and pastel painter Sarah Hamingson for doing a wonderful job of hanging the exhibit.
The show runs through February 28, 2013.